This Weird Fake Beach Might Be A Reality In 2016
*Not a film still from The Day After Tomorrow
Because New York City has zero beaches (oh wait), one entrepreneur has proposed an exceptionally odd floating barge on the Hudson River that would act as the city’s first twelfth beach. The barge would also host a surf shop, sand, and of course, unlimited access to body of water not know for its sandy shores.
The project, titled City Beach NYC and headed by Blayne Ross, is intended to be “Manhattan’s first ever floating pop-up beach designed by NYC’s creative community,” culminating in a two-story barge off Hudson River Park, ideally located near the West Village. Using reclaimed wood for a deck barge, the first floor would include the surf shop and restaurants, while the lower level would have changing rooms and a marine science exhibit. It’d be free for visitors, but as a for-profit enterprise, it would subsidize its free entry by selling fancy amenities like beach chairs, umbrellas, cabana rentals (!), and “naming rights.”
Of course, what’s missing from all of this is the $200,000 that the project is estimated to cost (an awfully low figure, no?), which will start accruing once City Beach’s Kickstarter page launches on June 14. But for know, interested folks can spread the word via a thing called Thunderclap, which, apparently is a real service that allows users to “lend their social media clout” and posts simultaneous advertisements from their Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr accounts for one, loud “thunderclap.”
From City Beach’s Thunderclap page:
Let’s cut to the chase, WE NEED A BEACH in New York City during the summer. We’ve got everything else and we need your INFLUENCE to get the word out. On June 19th we’re asking you to LEND us your SOCIAL MEDIA CLOUT to post once for you on Facebook or Twitter with a Thunderclap campaign by sending out a mass broadcast of our message in unison from all our friends and supporters during our KICKSTARTER campaign. It’s that simple.
Follow Rebecca Jennings on Twitter @rebexxxxa
